1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game apparatus for discharging free gifts.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a game apparatus having a gift dispenser designed to augment a sense of fulfillment or entertainment, in addition to the purpose of playing a game through an electronic game apparatus, has recently become popular, and heavy investment has been made in the development of the gift dispenser.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional gift game apparatus that is disclosed in Korean Utility Model Application Publication No. 20-2010-0009016 (entitled “Vending Machine for Game having Laser Shooting Diameter”).
Referring to FIG. 1, in the vending machine for games having: a main body 3 that has a display stand 2 for displaying free gifts fixed in the inside thereof; a door 7 that is openably and closably fixed to the main body 3 and has a paper money inlet 4 and buttons 5, 6 for horizontal and vertical movements; a moving member that is embedded in the main body 3, is moved in an upward/downward direction along left and right vertical belts linked with driving of a first drive motor, and is moved in a leftward/rightward direction along a horizontal belt linked with driving of a second drive motor; and a rod-shaped pusher 16 that is mounted to the moving member 14 and is moved in a forward/backward direction by a rack gear 15 synchronized and linked with a pinion gear fixed on an axis of a third drive motor (not drawn) upon driving the third drive motor (not drawn) to drop the relevant free gift from the display stand to a discharging outlet 17, the vending machine includes: a long hole-shaped through hole 19 for the free gift that is installed at the front of the display stand 2, and is selectively passed through by the pusher 16 moved in an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction by operation of the buttons 5, 6; a gift plate that has a circular shaped-through hole 20 for the free gift having a size corresponding to a pressing part 18 of the pusher 16 and is made of a transparent material (an acrylic material and the like); a laser sight 22 that is mounted on the moving member 14, discharges laser beams when the buttons 5, 6 are operated, and is able to obtain a position movement value (which denotes a moving distance of the X-axis direction and Y-axis direction) of the pusher 16 capable of passing through the through holes 19, 20 for the free gift by the laser beams discharged to the free gift of the display stand 2 when the moving member 14 is moved in horizontal or vertical directions upon the driving of the first and second drive motors according to the operation of the buttons 5, 6.
The circular shaped-through hole 20 for the free gift formed on the gift plate is arranged in at least one row in a horizontal direction (the drawing shows that the circular shaped-through holes 20 for the free gift is formed in two and three rows). The circular-shaped through hole 20 for the free gift is arranged in the gift plate in at least one row in the vertical direction even though it is not illustrated.
In the conventional game apparatus, the pusher 16 must be accurately moved in the direction of the X-axis and/or Y-axis in order to hit the free gift using the buttons, and accordingly, it reduces the chances of winning the game, and in order to obtain a high-priced free gift with the same betting sum of money, the free gift must pass through narrower through holes 19 and 20.
Also, the conventional game apparatus does not enable a gamer to obtain a desired gift because all of the free gifts are set to the same betting sum of money. That is, it is impossible for the gamer to select and play a game in a state of different free gifts being provided according to different betting sums of money.
In other game apparatuses, a game for moving the pusher forward and backward to hit a desired free gift so that the free gift is dropped to the gift discharging outlet, even by a small impact, thereby being causing the game to be vulnerable to minor external impact.
Moreover, when a person shakes the frame of the game apparatus intentionally or applies an impact to the frame, free gifts fall and are discharged.
That is, referring to FIG. 2 illustrating one example of a gift discharge control state according to the conventional art, the game apparatus is configured such that a movable gift discharge blocking part 60 blocks passage of the discharged free gift (at position x) when a free gift falls into a gift falling portion 50, and the gift discharge blocking part 60 may move (to a y position) so that the dropped free gift is discharged to a discharge unit 40 when an extruder is operated.
The game apparatus is configured such that the gift discharge blocking part 60 blocks the discharge of the free gift in the x position so that the free gift is kept at a lower portion of the frame 21 even if free gift might be dropped during game playing by shaking the frame, and the gift discharge blocking part 60 is moved to the y position when the extruder is operated, thereby enabling the free gift to be discharged to the discharge unit 14.
However, in this case, since the free gift may also fall to the discharge unit when an external impact is applied to the frame of the game apparatus while playing and before the game is finished, in order to prevent this, the gift discharge blocking part after the finishing of the game is operated, and accordingly, this causes an inconvenience wherein the gamer needs to wait a predetermined time after the end of the game in order to discharge the free gift.